“Nah, mate. The Falcon won’t be ready ‘til Tuesday.”

Lace Mamba Global has announced that it will publish The Pit: Dog Eat Dog, a gladiatorial combat game from Freedom Factory Studios. In the aftermath of an apocalyptic conflict, the desperate remnants of a once great society battle for wealth and glory in blood soaked arenas. Having seen Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome four times, I can confirm that this startling vision of the future is indeed accurate.

With sledgehammers, shotguns and chainsaws among the tools of your trade, you can be certain that this isn’t a game for the squeamish. Assuming you survive long enough, you’ll have the opportunity to customise and improve your character. When the novelty of hammering the AI into submission wears thin, you can carve up your friends in local or online multiplayer.

The Pit: Dog Eat Dog represents a dramatic change of pace for Freedom Factory. Just a year ago the Spanish developer was working on an obscure chess simulation. Producing a world-class 3D action game will be quite a test, particularly given that it is coming to three platforms (360, PS3 and PC). To be frank, the game is looking a little rough around the edges at this stage. Fortunately, there’s plenty of time for a spit and polish ahead of its release in early 2011.